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Archive → February, 2013

The recent demise of the 58-year annual Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show left both a hole in the fabric of the outdoors community, and also an opportunity for some enterprising people to pull it all back together. Nature abhors a vacuum, and into this one poured the good and capitalistic intentions of many veteran outdoorsmen.

Dozens of small groups of people have quickly seen the opportunity, and worked to create a show that will give them momentum for next year, and then the years after.

One such show is being billed as the “American Outdoorsman Sport Show,” organized by a radio station, WQLV 98.9 FM (www.aosshow.com), and it is being held from March 21-24 at the Carlisle Expo Center, 100 K Street, Carlisle, PA.

I know about this because JRJ Knives will be there (www.jrjknives.com). John Johnson of JRJ makes knives every bit as rugged and beautiful as the top-billed makers, but at a third to half the price. I try to purchase at least one every year; many I give away as gifts. John’s self-defense fixed blades are worn by an Israeli general and an Israeli colonel who sees combat every week, as well as sportsmen around the nation. Because he uses ATS34 steel combined with his exceptional skill, John’s knives are often far stronger than the “best” knives being marketed for survival, hand-to-hand combat, etc. In fact, I cook with one of the custom, unique large hunting knives he recently made for me. It is scary sharp, holds an edge forever, and is easy to resharpen.

So get on down to the Carlisle Expo Center this March 21-24, and buy yourself a JRJ knife and peruse some of the other vendors, including Cody Calls and Ducky’s Boats.

Kelty makes all kinds of outdoor equipment. Tents, sleeping bags, you name it, they make it. And they back up their gear with a lifetime warranty.
Example in point, my Pacific Crest backpack is a huge old dinosaur of a pack. It holds all kinds of stuff, has a sleeve for either a bow or rifle, and can easily carry 80 pounds without showing a sign of stress. Two weeks ago I sent this pack in for some rehab work.
Two weeks later, it arrived completely refurbished, at no charge. “Pride in our construction” says the zeroed invoice.
Kelty — a fantastic American company cut from the old mold.
Make sure to give them your business, folks. They’ve earned it.

If all this hoopla about “sequestration” isn’t a bunch of scare tactics, then it means that government involvement in our lives is just too big, too deep, too wide. Why should a budget battle lead to the shut down of the country? Aren’t and shouldn’t our state and local governments going to keep on working just fine?
Remember: The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

My career started in Washington, DC, and included seven years there of national and international work. After returning home to Pennsylvania, my focus turned to the region and state.
Now, my focus increasingly stays on local elections. It’s where we get officials who support concealed carry, or not, and who have the most impact on individual citizens.
Career is a funny concept. For me, it has been about enjoying satisfaction where I find it.

The old phrase “there’s a skunk in the wood pile” was meant as a metaphor for little bad things hidden away in big good things,thereby rendering them less valuable.

Well here we are, two weeks away from March, and we’ve got about one more cord of wood remaining. Probably enough for a big old leaky house where we keep a big wood fire running 24/6. Truth is, there’s an actual skunk living in our wood pile. He’s been seen sneaking in and out for weeks, and I just know that I’ll be bending down to get a last piece of oak in early March when the lil guy comes out and cuts loose on me.

Hi Dave. Good morning. I’ve just finished making the kids their French toast, and eating some myself. Time available now to do adult stuff.

First off, thank you for writing to me. Political apathy is a bigger threat to our Republic than just about anything else. Being engaged is key. I’m so glad you are willing to take time to write to me.

Right now I’m not a candidate, although I do anticipate running again in a few years. But I’m involved politically, a lot, and I respond to all contacts I receive, including helping people access their government services, when they ask.

The Second Amendment has zero to do with hunting or target shooting. It is fundamentally about armed militias not under federal control, members of which own and bear their individually owned military grade firearms.

Yes, I recognize that this makes many Americans uncomfortable, especially those who choose not to exercise certain of their rights.
The beauty of our Constitution is that it stands strong against the whims of social graces, which change frequently along with moods and fashions. The Constitution is designed to hold together the country with an untearable fabric.

So, Dave, your opinion applies to choices you make in your life. It does not apply to those Americans who choose to exercise their full rights.

Americans do not need to explain their Constitutional choices or rights.

AR15s and high capacity clips are involved in a small fraction of crime. And they are critical to fulfilling the Second Amendment’s purpose. So we will keep them.

If the current federal government makes them “illegal,” tens of millions of Americans will dissent, resist, defy, and disobey. Any government that would make tens of millions of Americans criminals overnight by virtue of otherwise legal guns they’ve owned, is a government without our consent and exactly the reason why we need the Second Amendment. And AR15s.

Forty-five out of the fifty states have constitutional protections of military grade firearms equally strong, or stronger, than the Second Amendment. Thus, guns are and always have been a core part of America that lots of people are today uncomfortable with. I’m sorry that you are uncomfortable with them. Maybe I can take you shooting. It’s safe, fun. Let me know.

Prohibition didn’t work with alcohol. Book bans failed. Abortion advocates say that women will have abortions, whether they are legal, or not. The same facts hold with guns: no one is taking our guns. Prohibitionist laws will drive them underground, into the woods, etc, and will force a Constitutional crisis.

Already hundreds of sheriffs (and their deputies) across America have stated they will not enforce a gun ban, and they will arrest anyone trying to enforce it. That’s a Constitutional crisis right there, different official law enforcers pitted against one another. With guns.

While the local militias have been in disuse since the end of the Civil War, it appears that these Constitutionally mandated civilian forces are beginning to reassemble. I urge you to look into the early militias. They were community based, grass roots, and according to our founders, expressly for the purpose of counterbalancing a federal army.

To that end, and because the Army has M16s, we will keep our AR15s.

Because so many Americans are still self reliant and resistant to government involvement in their lives, tens of millions choose to rely on the Constitution as their source of civic life. Others, sadly, have become statists, where they elevate, venerate, and capitulate to the federal government. This was not the America founded in 1776. It’s not my America. It’s not a Constitutional America.

Those who want America to be something else probably should move to a place that better meets their needs.
Again, thank you for writing.

But I still recognize the right of citizens to own guns for hunting and self protection. I support the 2nd amendment.

Technology has created weapons far more deadly than any one will ever need outside of war.

Your arguments are faulty.
The NRA and the gun manufacturers are trying to sell as many guns as possible through fear tactics.

This will only result in more and more deaths- from anything from mass murders to domestic violence to simple accidents especially when children get ahold of guns.

I am dismayed that you are running for office in Dauphin County, Pa.
Please get Wayne LaPierre to campaign for you.
You will find out how the vast majority of sane people feel when you only get about 20% of the vote.

Apparently so, according to the US Department of Agriculture:
http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/jw-releases-confidential-usda-videos-revealing-cultural-sensitivity-training-program/

“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government”
— Thomas Jefferson, 1 Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

“The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good”
— George Washington